People are online today more than ever, and with anything you can imagine being right at your fingertips, e-commerce stores have been taking off. Many different steps go into creating a successful e-commerce store, but when done correctly, it can be highly profitable. Today we will be covering various tips for both importers and exporters that will help take your store to the next level.
E-commerce Importer Tips
Increase your companies presence online
As an internet store, your website is your headquarters. It is the first thing that customers will see and it’s how you will be making your money. In order to get business, you must first drive traffic to your website. One way to do that is by taking advantage of SEO or “Search Engine Optimization”. Use relevant keywords that rank well to increase the likelihood of your website ranking higher on Google and reaching more people.
Customize your website to fit your target market
Your website is the first impression that potential customers will have of your brand, so you want to make sure it is a good one. One way to do this is by making sure that you have a clean and aesthetic shop/website that is geared toward your target audience.
Depending on what you sell and your budget, you may find using a pre-existing platform like amazon to be your best option. If not, you may decide that building your own website completely specific to your brand may be a better option. There are pros and cons to both of these options, but at the end of the day it comes down to what you want and what you think is best for your brand specifically.
Sourcing your store’s products
As a shop owner, you want to make sure that the products you sell are of good quality. Better quality items may be a bit more expensive initially, but it is worth it as you are more likely to have repeat customers and much better reviews.
Once you know exactly what it is that you want to sell you need to find a reputable supplier to provide you with your products. As you will likely be buying these products in bulk, it is important to weigh your options and not settle with the first supplier you come across. All suppliers have different shipping costs, deals, and more. You want to find the best deal for you to increase your profits, while also making sure the quality of the product itself does not take a hit.
Make sure your paperwork is in order
As an e-commerce store owner, there are a lot of different things to keep track of behind the scenes to keep your business running both efficiently and legally. First, always be sure that you are up-to-date with your country’s customs and border protection regulations and guidelines.
As far as paperwork goes, you want to make sure that any type of entry form that is required for your shipments is properly filled out ahead of time. If you are in the United States, these entry forms are typically required to be filled out roughly 15 days before your shipment is scheduled to arrive. Fill out these forms as accurately as you possibly can and keep any documentation of the shipment with you such as an invoice or anything similar in case an issue pops up.
E-commerce Exporter Tips
Getting the most out of your website
A lot of what we talked about regarding your website for imports is the same for exports. As a store owner, you want to make sure that your website is appealing to look at and extremely user-friendly. If it is at all confusing or glitchy, your customer is very likely to move on to another e-commerce store for their order.
One way to ensure your website is user-friendly is by limiting the time it takes to load new pages and search results. Expertec is a great tool for this. It’s a search bar that is commonly used in e-commerce sites that load in customers’ search results at a much higher speed. This will help keep people on your website and allows them to find what they are looking for much quicker.
You also want to make sure that your website gives as much information about your company and brand as possible. This can be done by ensuring that there is an “About Us” section, an FAQ page, and something that tells your backstory and specialty. Having a well-filled-out website with all of your brand’s information helps build trust with your clients and increase orders.
Create an effective social media strategy
As an exporter, you are trying to market to other countries all around the world. Social media is the perfect tool for that as it is free and everyone uses it. Social media is something that you should be taking advantage of. This includes posting frequently and being active on multiple different social platforms to increase your reach. Deciding which social media platforms to be active on will depend on who your target market is, and what type of product you are selling.
Social media is another great way to build trust with both current and potential clients. It also helps keep you fresh in their mind should they be having posts you make appear on their timeline.
Email marketing
Social media is hands down the best marketing tool to use for virtually any business, but that does not mean it is your only option. One great way to market your company is through email marketing. This would entail having an area on your website and social media where customers can input their email addresses to join your mailing list. Mailing lists are great because they are essentially newsletters that allow you to keep people who are already interested in your company up to date on what is new. This is a great way to keep customers coming back and continuing to build trust.
Conclusion
E-commerce stores seem to be getting more and more popular by the month and it’s important to make yours stand out. These are just a couple of tips that can help your store get to the next level and stand out from the competition. We hope that you found these tips helpful and are excited to implement them in your own store!
